Kazakhstan plane crash: Bek Air plane comes down near Almaty airport
28-12-2019, 07:03

Font size: [ A+ ] / [ A- ]

A passenger jet has crashed in Kazakhstan, killing at least 12 people but leaving dozens of survivors.

The Bek Air plane was flying from Almaty - Kazakhstan's largest city - to the capital Nur-Sultan when it smashed into a building just after take-off.

The Fokker 100 aircraft had 93 passengers and five crew members on board. Survivors described walking from the wreckage into the dark and snow.

Dozens are being treated in hospital. The cause of the crash is unclear.

A Reuters news agency reporter close to the scene said there was heavy fog at the time.

The interior ministry initially said 15 people had been killed, but it later revised the number of victims down to 12.

Kazakhstan's aviation committee has suspended all Bek Air flights as well as those involving Fokker 100 aircraft pending the results of the investigation.

 

What's known about the crash?

 

The Flightradar24 information website said the flight departed at 07:21 (01:21 GMT), and "the last signal was received in that same minute".

The airport said the plane lost height at 07:22 before striking a concrete barrier and crashing into a two-storey building. There was no fire upon impact.

Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said the plane's tail had scraped the runway twice during take-off, leaving marks.

 

One survivor, businessman Aslan Nazaraliyev, told the BBC that the plane had begun vibrating violently. People screamed and the aircraft smashed into the ground.

He said part of the plane was crushed like "an aluminium can". He and others managed to get out and helped fellow passengers to safety.

"It was ugly. It was dark. We were lighting with cell phone lights," Mr Nazaraliyev said.

Another told news website Tengrinews she heard a "terrifying sound" before the plane started losing altitude.

"The plane was flying at a tilt. Everything was like in a movie: screaming, shouting, people crying," she said.

What of the victims?

Mr Sklyar said that most of the passengers who died or suffered serious injuries were in the front part of the plane.

Eight people died at the scene, two while being treated at the airport and two in hospital, AFP news agency reports.

Some 67 people were injured in the accident, nine of them children, the health ministry said. Forty-nine were still in hospital on Friday evening, of whom eight people were said to be in a critical condition.

Most of those on board were Kazakh citizens although Chinese, Kyrgyz and Ukrainian nationals were reportedly among the injured.

The captain has been confirmed as one of the fatalities.

The editor of the Informburo.kz website said one of its journalists, 35-year-old Dana Kruglova, was killed while flying to see her parents for New Year.

What's been the reaction?

A special commission will be set up to determine the cause of the crash.

Kazakhstan's President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev has declared a day of national mourning on Friday.

He expressed his "deep condolences" to relatives and said "all those responsible will be severely punished in accordance with the law".

He also ordered an audit of all Kazakh airlines.

Bek Air also expressed its condolences and said it was doing everything it could to clarify what happened.

Almaty's airport said it was operating normally and the flight schedule was unaffected.

Nur-Sultan - a city formerly known as Astana - was renamed after former-President Nursultan Nazarbayev shortly after he stood down in March.

 

What are the odds of surviving a plane crash?

 

A survey of crashes in the US between 1983 and 2000 found that 95% of aircraft occupants survived accidents, including 55% in the most serious incidents.

A study of crashes worldwide by the European Transport Safety Council has found that 90% are survivable.

Flying remains the safest way to travel. Your chances of being in a crash in the first place are vanishingly small.

In 2018 - an average year in terms of aircraft accidents - 514 people died worldwide in crashes involving commercial flights, from a total of more than four billion passengers.

What is known about Bek Air?

 

It was founded in 1999, initially targeting VIP flight operations, the company's website says.

Nowadays, the company describes itself as Kazakhstan's first low-cost airline.

Its fleet is made up of seven Fokker 100 aircraft. The aircraft in this crash received its most recent flight certificate in May.

 

  • Medium-sized twin-turbofan airliner, designed mainly for short-range flights
  • First flight in 1986 - 283 jets built in total
  • Production terminated in 1997 after Fokker, a Dutch manufacturer, went bankrupt
  • Maintenance division taken over by other aircraft services firms
  • Has been involved in two other serious crashes. A Palair Macedonian Airlines flight crashed after takeo-ff from Skopje, North Macedonia, in 1993, killing 83 of the 97 people on board. All 99 people on board a TAM flight died in a crash near São Paulo, Brazil, in 1996. Four others died on the ground.
Presentational grey line

This is not the first serious plane crash in the city.

On 29 January 2013, a passenger plane travelling from the northern town of Kokshetau came down near Almaty, killing 20 people.

A month earlier, 27 people died when a military plane carrying senior Kazakh security officials crashed in the south of the country.

 

BBC

 

Comments: 763
#763   Warner
      
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My site has
a lot of completely unique content I've either written myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up
all over the internet without my permission. Do
you know any methods to help stop content from being ripped off?
I'd certainly appreciate it.

Also visit my homepage: quick loans
Today, 04:53
#762   Shelton
      
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday.

It will always be exciting to read through content
from other authors and use something from other sites.

Here is my webpage; paypal
Today, 03:16
#761   Patty
      
This is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger.
I've joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your
wonderful post. Also, I've shared your website in my social networks!


My blog post - IDR file online viewer
Today, 01:10
#760   lga 2011 narrow
      
We're a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.
Your web site provided us with valuable info to work on.
You've done an impressive job and our entire
community will be thankful to you. https://lga2011narrow.blogspot.com
Today, 00:08
#759   Natalie
      
I blog quite often and I truly appreciate your information. The article has truly peaked my interest.
I am going to take a note of your site and keep checking for new
details about once a week. I subscribed to your RSS feed too.


Here is my page :: aol
Yesterday, 23:03
#758   Felix
      
I needed to thank you for this excellent read!!
I absolutely enjoyed every bit of it. I have you bookmarked to look at new
stuff you post…

Here is my site :: tower rush
Yesterday, 11:29
#757   Adolph
      
Hello to all, how is all, I think every one is getting more from this web page, and
your views are nice in support of new people.


Also visit my webpage ของกิน
9 July 2026 18:36
#756   Carlton
      
Bersama kami malah, telah pastintya para pemain malah sekarang dapat
saja mencoba sebuah figur dan macam permainan online yang
kami punya ini dengan cara pelayanan yang betul-betul
terbaik dan normal nya yang dihasilkan simbol dengan siap sedia akan.

My website: kinggame365
9 July 2026 10:49
#755   Ivy
      
Hеllo there! This aeticle could not be written any Ьetter!

Readіng through this post reminds mme of mу previous roommate!
He always keρt talkіng abоut this. І wіll
forward this information to him. Prеty sure he'lⅼ have a great read.
I aρpreciate you for sharing!

My web blog: بازی انفجار
8 July 2026 02:00
#754   Jared
      
Wow, superb blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your
site is excellent, as well as the content!

Here is my web page 888starz
1xbet
8 July 2026 00:33
#753   Venetta
      
Anda dapat membatasi pilihan situs kasino on-line Anda dengan membaca testimonial situs.

Adanya standar penambahan modal bermain through pulsa
kini sudah dapat dilakukan, sehingga momen bermain pun lebih menguntungkan.

Also visit my blog post - 123LUCABET
4 July 2026 23:34
#752   Lola
      
Driver software that comes with some hard drives may also have packages to do this,
that write 0s or 1s (both manner, "blankness") to the entire drive.

The reason for this, is that they are restricted by toxins.


my website - godfather789
4 July 2026 19:02
#751   Damien
      
Remarkable issues here. I am very satisfied to peer your post.
Thank you so much and I am taking a look forward to touch
you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?

Visit my web blog use of medical products
4 July 2026 18:46
#750   Kenneth
      
Seperti staf admin pada proses deposit dan withdraw akan diolah secara cepat dalam kurun waktu kurang dari 3 menit.


Also visit my page: ko888
4 July 2026 09:14
#749   Emanuel
      
Incredible! This blog looks just like my old one!

It's on a entirely different topic but it has pretty much the
same layout and design. Great choice of colors!

Feel free to surf to my site; important source
4 July 2026 04:32
#748   Oren
      
I've been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I
never found any interesting article like yours.

It's pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all site owners and
bloggers made good content as you did, the net will
be a lot more useful than ever before.

Feel free to surf to my blog ... norton security login
3 July 2026 23:48
#747   Ashli
      
Selain itu tidak ketinggalan juga kami menyediakan layanan customer support
24 jam nonstop setiap hari untuk membantu member yang menglami kendala saat bermain bersama
situs Agen138.

Also visit my webpage: Y2K168 ทางเข้า
3 July 2026 14:44
#746   Duane
      
always i used to read smaller articles that as well clear their motive,
and that is also happening with this piece of writing which
I am reading at this time.

Feel free to surf to my page - slot bonus game
2 July 2026 15:02
#745   Loretta
      
It's going to be finish of mine day, except before ending I am
reading this enormous paragraph to increase my experience.


My web site: crazytime
demo
2 July 2026 10:41
#744   Justine
      
Apostar en tragamonedas online se posicionó como una de las alternativas de diversión más
populares entre los apostadores del país. Sin embargo, previo a iniciar a jugar es importante saber qué características hacen que un casino sea seguro.


my web-site ... website
2 July 2026 04:43
Add Comments

Name:*
E-Mail:
  Geo Keyboard  
 

Dear reader, guardian.ge welcomes your comments. Please express your views on topic and be respectful of others.

bold italic underline strike | align left centered align right | Ensert smilies insert linkInsert protected URL Choice the color | hidden text insert quote Convert selected text from transliteration to Cyrillic alphabet Insert spoiler

Code: *


Back1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 39Next